This invention pertains to aircraft passenger seat equipment and, more particularly, to an aircraft seat fitting assembly.
In aircraft, trains, buses, and ships, it is desirable to safely secure individual and bench style passenger seats, as well as cargo and other items, at predetermined staggered locations along the floor (deck) of the aircraft. This is often accomplished with tracks, track fittings, and bolts. Track fittings and bolts must have sufficient strength, reliability, and load-carrying capacity to assure that the passenger seats and other loads do not become loose during travel, which could endanger passengers and personnel and damage the cargo and aircraft equipment. It is also desirable that the track fitting be relatively easy to attach and detach from the track to permit versatility in positioning the passenger seats and in converting and changing the passenger and cargo-carrying space of the aircraft.
Aircraft often need the capability to add, remove, or change the positions of passenger seats and cargo to accommodate more or fewer passengers or larger or smaller amounts of cargo. For example, it is often desirable to change the density of loading of an aircraft from first class, business, and tourist loading configurations to an all discount or charter operation having entirely or mostly economy or tourist seats. Furthermore, some flights, especially those that are scheduled late at night, may have their passenger and cargo compartments rearranged to accommodate both cargo and passengers in the compartment that is normally reserved for only passenger seats.
In order to accomplish the above, aircraft manufacturers and suppliers have installed locking tracks that run lengthwise in the floor of the major compartment of the aircraft. Such locking tracks usually have a slot or channel along their entire length. The tracks typically also have semicircular cutout portions that extend outward from the slot and are positioned at uniform distances. The slot and cutout portions of the tracks can receive various types of track fittings. The track fittings can be positioned in the slot and cutout portions of the tracks at various locations along the tracks to detachably secure passenger seats, cargo, and other items to the tracks. In this manner, the passenger seats, cargo, or other items can be attached, relocated, or removed from the aircraft as desired.
Many prior art track fittings, however, do not have sufficient load-carrying capacity and strength or are otherwise deficient to safely and adequately secure aircraft seats, cargo, and other items to the floor of the aircraft when the aircraft crashes or is subject to substantial turbulence, rapid deceleration, or impact forces. Under such conditions, large impact forces, compression forces, tensile forces, bending moments, torque, and/or torsion (twisting), are exerted on the tracks, track fittings, interconnecting bolts, and passenger seats, which can cause the tracks and/or seats to rotate and the bolts to be angularly displaced or become bent or otherwise deformed. Such conditions can also cause the passenger seats to become misaligned and twisted off the tracks, and the track fittings to fail. In some circumstances, the track fittings have actually been pulled loose from the locking tracks. This has resulted in the passenger seat becoming loose from the floor of the aircraft and being propelled within the aircraft which greatly increases the chances of injury or death to the occupants of that seat or other occupants in the aircraft. Such track fittings can be hazardous to the aircraft, dangerous to the safety and well-being of passengers and the flight crew, and harmful to aircraft equipment and cargo.
Over the years a variety of track fittings, passenger seat equipment, and other components have been suggested for aircraft passenger seats and for other purposes. Typifying some of these prior art track fittings, passenger seat equipment, and other components are those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,212,457; 3,606,637; 3,667,195; 3,847,344; 4,026,218; 4,062,298; 4,109,891; 4,230,423; 4,256,424; 4,369,010; 4,376,522; and 4,509,888. These prior art track fittings, passenger seat equipment, and other components have met with varying degrees of success.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved aircraft seat fitting assembly which overcomes most, if not all, of the preceding problems.